Letters to the Editor

Thursday, 5 April 2012

FREDERICTON
- Union of Canadian Transportation Employees local 60601, representing
firefighters and other workers at Fredericton International Airport,
have been on strike since February 13, 2012. They are calling for
airport management, especially CEO David Innes, to reverse changes at
the airport that have had a serious impact on morale and working
conditions.

Striking
firefighters will gather on Friday, April 6th, at 10 am in front
of the airport, in uniform, showing where, they say, their professional insignia
were removed on order of Mr. Innes. Backed by other airport staff they
will share stories of what they consider attacks on the professionalism of airport staff, reducing the professionalism of the service they are able to provide the
public.

Said
firefighter Tony Cooper, "Airport firefighters are firefighters. Same
as the people who come to help if you have a house fire. But we have
specialized training for the extreme conditions you can find in a fire
at an airport, or in an airplane. What we don't understand is why we
have no training budget, to keep our skills at the highest level, and
now management has forced us to remove the symbol of our professional
pride: our insignia."

The union claims airport
management is attempting to force all airport employees to be
designated as 'Airport Operations Specialists' which means firefighters
would fix snow ploughs and mechanics would fight fires.

"We want to get back to work, we
need management to recognize the importance of respecting professional
boundaries, to recognize the importance of a training budget, and to
create a positive atmosphere where we can all work to make this a better
airport for the people of Fredericton," said
union representative Faye Downing.

Fredericton International Airport CEO David Innes was unavailable for comment on the union accusations when contacted by this publication today.

The
union decided to hold their meeting on a public holiday to minimize
disruptions. The union is asking the traveling public to use Moncton or
Saint John airports for the duration of the strike.